A Hatfield man has been left "devastated" after his dead father's house was raided in Potters Bar.

Haltside resident Matt Orella, 45, discovered that precious family heirlooms from his late parents had been snatched during a burglary in Elmscroft Gardens late last month.

The callous break-in came to light over the weekend when his brother returned to the house to find the thieves had forced entry and rooted through his family’s belongings.

“My brother went in to my mum’s room and saw the jewellery box on the floor, they had also gone through my brother’s bedroom and gone through all the drawers,” Matt said.

“He was gutted and couldn’t believe it.”

Thieves also took a precious gold medallion with the Virgin Mary and Jesus on one side and the emblem of the Basilica of Begona on the other.

Among the looted items were a gold Spanish medallion given to Matt by his deceased parents and a gold signet ring passed down from his uncle and auntie, who have also passed away.

“I feel violated and so angry,” he told the Potters Bar edition.

“It’s the one thing I got from my mum, who passed away when I was 10.

“I’m still in shock to be honest with you. I just hope they get caught and something happens to them.”

The father-of-one added the ordeal has been made even more sickening because it happened almost exactly a year since his father fell ill.

However, the whole raid was captured on CCTV, which the family had previously installed throughout the house to keep an eye on Matt’s father.

“The way they came in they looked like they were about to pounce,” Matt said.

“The one thing my brother said was my father would have stood up to them, so it’s a good thing he wasn’t in because we wouldn’t be dealing with a break-in we would be dealing with a homicide.”

A police spokeswoman said enquiries are on-going following the burglary, which happened at around 8.30pm on September 24, and urged anyone with information to call 101, quoting crime reference J3/17/1350.